In telecommunications systems a growing number of interconnections between incoming feeder cable from switching centres and in-building distribution cable, and between telephone set cables and the business communications equipment is made annually. Quick clip connectors were developed to avoid cumbersome wire connecting operations which were time consuming. But beyond the operation of actual connection of the wires to connectors, there remains the overall organization of the interconnect system.
To be truly useful the connector blocks must be organized in an easily accessible, expandable interconnection system. Caveney et al in U.S. Pat. No. 3,778,750 issued Dec. 11, 1973 discloses a wire termination and splicing system having a pair of upstanding frame members upon which two series of elongated, two sided, multi-contact connectors are mounted for rotation between pairs of rotational mounts. Ellis et al in U.S. Pat. No. 3,798,587 discloses a connector engaging a protruding receptacle which is mounted on a back panel. The wires to be connected must be laid into the receptacle prior to the connector engaging it.
The system disclosed by Caveney et al must be free standing to permit access to all four sides of the frame, which can under certain circumstances be disadvantageous. The patent to Ellis et al does not teach an organized system for interconnection.
There is need for a system that permits ease of installation, rearrangement and expansion. It is an object of the present invention to provide such improved interconnection system.
It is a feature of the present system that it is structured in simple modular units that are relatively compact. This results in a system that is easy to install, rearrange and expand.
The system, when fully installed, comprises four basic modular components: a supporting module; a connector block; a designation strip; and a distribution ring. The module is of a novel design and holds a plurality of connector blocks and designation strips.
The connector blocks are releasably held by the module so that the first set of wires can be connected to the connector block along one side, the connector block released from the mount and reinserted into the mount with other side accessible for connection of the second set of wires. The mount also provides, if desired, separate paths for incoming and outgoing cables and for jumper wires, thus ensuring a neat arrangement and easy identification of the cable.
The distribution ring interlocks with the mount and is preferably used as a spacer between rows of modules and as a jumper wire guide.
A suitable connector block and its accessories are fully disclosed in commonly assigned co-pending application Ser. No. 963,935 filed on Nov. 27, 1978 in the United States.
Thus according to the present invention, there is provided a module for supporting a plurality of connector blocks comprising a U-shaped channel-like member adapted at its two opposite U-sides to releasably hold each of said plurality of connector blocks thereacross and having in at least one of said two opposite sides fanning apertures for inserting wires for connection to said connector blocks.
A system according to the present invention comprises a plurality of the aforesaid modules arranged in rows and secured to a flat surface such as a back panel or wall. The rows may be separated by an arbitrary distance to permit running of jumper wires accessing the connector blocks through the fanning apertures. The incoming and/or outgoing cable preferably accesses the connector blocks through the channel-like module in the space between the back of the module (the bottom of the U) and the therefrom sufficiently spaced connector blocks.
It is preferable, for organizational purposes, to have two distinct sets of modules, one set accessed by the incoming cables and the other by the outgoing cables. Interconnection between the two sets is accomplished by means of jumper wires that are connected to the front side (after installation and connection of feeder and distribution cables) of the connector blocks. The jumper wires are run freely in the space between module runs (possibly retained by distribution rings), and are thus easy to reorganize.
Normally, the most frequent access will be to reorganize the jumper wires which alter the assignment of incoming pairs to outgoing pairs. However, access to alter feeder and distribution connections may still be had, although not as easily, by releasing a connector block, turning it around and severing the connections or altering them.